Lowell Auditorium trustee to resign after 3 months

LOWELL -- One of the newest members of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium's Board of Trustees is resigning three months after being named to the post.

Leo Cloutier, 81, told The Sun Thursday afternoon he is stepping down because of health reasons.

"Right now I need to focus on my health," Cloutier said.

The City Council voted in December to confirm City Manager Bernie Lynch's appointment of Cloutier to the five-member panel.

Cloutier is a Korean War veteran and has been a member of many different local veterans groups.

His announcement comes with the city in the midst of seeking a new management firm for the historic auditorium.

Cloutier said last month he thought the city should put forward a revised request-for-proposals because only one bidder, Global Spectrum, submitted a bid. He also said the trustees should be involved with the process of selecting a new management firm.

A five-member evaluation committee earlier this week recommended that Lynch negotiate a contract for auditorium management with Global Spectrum, which already manages the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell and more than 100 venues worldwide.

Lynch will be tasked with naming a board member to fill Cloutier's place.

The board has two members who were appointed since Cloutier's appointment.

The council confirmed the appointment of Eric Faulkner, the IT manager at Nobis Engineering, in January. Last month, the council approved the appointment of Michael Dinneen, a retired Greater Lowell Technical High School electrical instructor, to the panel.

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Jim O'Donnell Jr., chairman of the auditorium's board of trustees, and trustee William Taupier, are both serving on expired terms.

O'Donnell and Taupier told The Sun they would accept re-appointments.

The City Council recently approved Councilor Ed Kennedy's motion calling on Lynch to appoint or re-appoint two members to the board of trustees.

Kennedy told The Sun Lynch would be wise to re-appoint Taupier, who has served for more than 10 years, and O'Donnell, who has been on the board about three years.

"Given that we have a new contract coming up, it would be prudent to have people on the board with some experience," Kennedy said. "I think both of them should have been re-appointed, but the manager has not brought them in yet or any one to fill their seats."

Lynch did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Kennedy also said he expects Lynch to follow through on his motion that the full board of trustees be part of the RFP process to bring on a new management firm.

He agrees with Taupier that if Lynch reaches a contract with Global Spectrum, it should go before the board of trustees before it comes to the City Council.

"I won't vote for any contract until the trustees as a board get a chance to weigh in on it," Kennedy said.

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